US gloom upsets Asian shares

A FIT of depression among US consumers spread rapidly around Asian markets today, and technology stocks were further bashed by downbeat forecasts from leading computer and components groups, and 3% tumble on the Nasdaq.

A strong rise in durable goods orders in the US last month was not enough to offset the surprise fall in the latest Conference Board consumer confidence index, which plunged to 93.5 from July's 97.4.

Tokyo stocks continued their retreat from the 10,000 barrier briefly breached on Monday, and the Nikkei 225 lost a further 140.57 points to close at 9766.73.

In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index fell 61.77 points to 10,123.75. The message of continuing slack sales for Asia's key technology sector was brought to the heart of the region by Craig Barrett, chief executive of US chip giant Intel. Speaking in Malaysia, he said: 'We haven't seen much improvement in the computing environment because companies are not investing. When it turns around will be when companies start investing. I'm not forecasting when that will happen.'

A similar warning of weak investment from Hewlett Packard added to the regional gloom which sent the Dow Jones Pacific Technology index down 2%. Hardest hit stock in Japan was Tokyo Electron, one of the world's largest chipmaking equipment manufacturers which dived 4%. Computer and semiconductor group Toshiba fell by a similar amount. Slackening US consumer confidence was reflected in prices of big-ticket exporters, with Honda leading the car makers down with a fall of 1.2%.

Taiwan's semiconductor stocks were heavily pasted, taking the Weighted Average down 75.24 points to 4803.61. South Korea's Samsung Electronics, which is heavily dependent on the US market tumbled more than 1%, but the Kospi was rescued by some solid gains in motor stocks, and added 2.57 points at 726.74. Koreans preferred to concentrate on US durable goods sales, which rose 8.7% in July, the strongest rise in nine months, and boosted expectations for exports.

Hong Kong investors were looking on the dark side of the US economy and blue chips fell across the board. Locally-quoted Legend Computer, China's biggest PC manufacturer followed the regional tech trend with a 2.5% slide.

Bank of China shares shed more than 1% after unveiling half year profits in line with expectations, but investors were unimpressed with a marginal improvement in its bad loan ratio which fell from 11% to around 9%.

Singapore stocks were beaten up on all sides by US data and the poor outlook for its key technology stock , which sufferedfalls of up to 2%,taking the Straits Times index down 9.03 to 1500.45.

Trading in Sydney was largely on a stock-by-stock basis as investors focused on earnings reports flowing into the market, but with News Corporation shares sharply weaker on overnight falls in New York, the All Ordinaries index dipped 20.5 points to 3090.4.

Thai stocks provided a rare bright spot in the region as the SET index rose 1.29 points to 371.43. In Malaysia, the Kuala Lumpur Composite was down 3.06 points at 725.67. Indonesian shares were mauled by political uncertainties, and the Jakarta Composite fell 5.15 points to 446.92.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed in the tables.